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Following "the alarming findings", Surrey Wildlife Trust and Surrey Nature Partnership have urged Mr Gove to "take action to protect and invest in the county's natural assets before it is too late."

Nigel Davenport, chief executive officer of Surrey Wildlife Trust, said: "With the UK’s exit from the EU looming and council budgets squeezed, this is a crucial time for our wildlife – never before have the stakes been so great.

"The majority of our environmental laws and vital funds are currently entwined with our membership of the European Union and there are no guarantees for the future."

He added: "We should all be calling on the new Environment Secretary Michael Gove MP to uphold the current legal protections and investment in the environment, now and in the future, for the benefit of everyone."

Surrey Wildlife Trust’s living landscapes manager Mike Waite, who wrote the report, said: "This is a current stock-take of the county’s biodiversity including as many of its wildlife species and habitats as possible.

"Our research tells us what we have lost in recent history and what remains most threatened – and it makes for alarming reading.

"Surrey is an impressively diverse county biologically in terms of sheer numbers of recorded species."

"Nearly 12% of our native wildlife has already been lost"

He added: "But whilst celebrating our distinctiveness we should be mindful of this report’s sad indication that nearly 12% of our native wildlife has already been lost – clearly this is not the time to be resting on our laurels."

Mr Davenport added: "Wildlife in Surrey is under particular threat from new building developments and pressure on the green belt and we are determined to fight nature’s corner.